More smartphones are coming under attack:as these devices become more
important to all our lives, they will increasingly be a target for hackers
too

Mobile phones are the new frontier for cyber criminals, according to the latest research from McAfee. That may sound like a scary headline, but as phones have become more sophisticated, so this new development became inevitable.

Traditionally, cyber criminals have concentrated on the biggest targets, too: so for computers Microsoft has always attracted far more attention than Apple, and on mobile phones Nokia’s Symbian OS was hacked most often. Now as Android has finally begun to take Symbian’s place and the iPhone’s dominance is well established, that operating system too is being examined more closely.

The appeal of mobile phone malware is obvious: these devices increasingly have pin numbers stored as ‘contacts’, or have people’s credit card details stored in iTunes accounts. Hacking is still difficult, but not impossible. Viruses disguised as applications, or links sent from text messages open up not just financial fraud, but also the possibility of identity theft, too.

More and more people, too, are starting to use their own phones or computers as work devices: that means corporate security is becoming more challenging. Our Five tips to secure your smartphone will help you to stay safe – but above all else the key is to exert some common sense when using your phone, just as you would with a computer. So don’t click on that link or install that app if you don’t definitely trust it.